Cubs Lose

The Cubs were just swept by the Dodgers. What is wrong with that team? Alfonso Soriano just struck out on a check swing to finish 1-14 in the series (3-28 over the last two seasons with three singles). But it's not just Soriano and his Mendozaic playoff numbers that are at fault, it's the Cubs. I listened to all three games and they were never really close in any of them. They're so frightened of not breaking the century slump that they can't concentrate on playing good baseball.

I was reading Three Nights in August while listening to the games tonight. Though the book chronicles a three game series between the Cubs and Cardinals during the 2003 season, several of the players mentioned in the book are still with the former club. Jim Edmonds was on the Cardinals at the time and now he plays with Chicago. I love playoff baseball. I like the teams that are involved this year too, specifically the Rays and Dodgers. Hard to believe they could end up facing each other in the World Series.

Last night I watched the Sox beat the Angels, in Anahiem, on a large Plexiglas protected television in a bar in Oakland. J.D. Drew, partial villain of Three Nights in August, hit a tie-breaking home run off K-Rod in the 9th. It was a thrilling victory and puts the Red Sox in firm position to win the series with Josh Beckett squaring up against Joe Saunders at home in Boston tomorrow. Beckett, arguably the most effective postseason pitcher ever, isn't 100% but hopefully he can get through 6 or 7 strong innings.

Clearly I was wrong about the Cubs winning the World series, and it looks like I'll be wrong about the White Sox getting to the ALCS as well, but I'd rather be wrong anyway.